When was the last time you spoiled yourself a little with an extravagant wine purchase?  I am not talking about your Friday wine of choice, to relax and wind down for the weekend–a wine which is one-of-a-kind, a treasure, and one many true wine lovers might find themselves lucky to have had such a wine touch their lips once in their lifetime.

A new month has rolled over, a new season is approaching…  It is time to add a little sumthin’ sumthin’ to your cellar, even if you don’t have the spare space, you can make some for these.

1945 Baron Philippe de Rothschild Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, Pauillac, France

$18,000- 750ml

$29,000- Magnum

1945 was a grand year for all the first growths, even so, Mouton, only then a second growth, became the wine of the vintage.  For many years it has remained the favorite and has carried higher values at auction than the first growths.  The grapes for the treasured wine come from the site of the Grand Plateau, where the soil is regarded as ‘classic Pauillac’, where underneath a layer of gravel are large stones and clay.  This wine has been judged by many critics as ‘simply unmistakable’, even ‘immortal’. It has matured slowly and still shows many youthful characteristics today.

1961 Paul Jaboulet Aine Hermitage La Chapelle, Rhone, France

$12,000

Gerard Chave and Paul Jaboulet are a couple of the most prestigious producers from the Hermitage AC.  No wine since this wine’s time has enjoyed such acclaim connected with the La Chapelle label.  The location of the Hermitage hill is of granite and exceptionally hot, ideal for Syrah.  Even though the vintage year began with a great start, rain in June destroyed much of the crop and harvest had very small yields.  As history of this property has it, this wine would have been stomped on by foot, fermented with wild yeasts in only open wooden vats.  The finishing touches of the wine would have been an aging process of 18 months in vats and very smaller than average barrels some of chestnut wood, then bottled without filtration.  Another ‘immortal’ wine, ‘reminiscent of a great red Bordeaux’, ‘rich’.  Would you like me to go on?

1955 Penfolds Grange Bin 95, Australia

$1,500

The goal of Max Schubert of Penfolds was to become an icon.  He wanted to create a wine to become the finest of all things pertaining to Australian Shiraz, the capability to age for decades.  This is one of those wines.  Wine Spectator voted the Grange as ‘one of the top 12 of the century’.  Max made a name for himself at a time when many did not expect much from Australian wines.  He wanted to give the Grange wine a consistency in its style, aged in oak from North America and fruit only chosen for finer qualities and ripeness.  The fruit originated from many Southern Australian vineyards; Kalimna and McLaren of the Barossa, and of Magill Estate and Morphett Vale in Adelaide.  Don’t hang on to this one, it is ready to drink.  This one you can treat yourself to today.

1947 Domaine Haut Vouvray Le Haut Lieu Moelleux, Loire, France

$1,000

If you are a Vouvray lover, you will fall in love all over again with this jewel.  The reason this wine has lived so long, is because of its style, “Moelleux” is the most long-lived and sweetest style of the Vouvrays.  Located in the northern part of France, there are only a few notable, successful harvests of the Loire Valley.  1947 was one of those rare and most fruitful seasons.  At the time there were only 4-hectares of vines grown in deep clay-like limestone.  This wine was not offered for sale until 1970, and it has received rave reviews since; ‘exceptionally beautiful’, ‘[of] caramelized oranges and tropical fruit’, ‘exceptional’.

1973 Chase Era Stags’ Leap Winery Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

$800

If you know wine and even a little of its history, you know about the ‘Judgment of Paris’ in 1976.  This was one of the very wines which surpassed many first growth Bordeaux.  More astonishing for the judges, was that the wine was made from grapes that had only been planted in 1970.  Almost four decades later it still shows ‘liveliness of great fruit’.  On the eastern side of the Napa Valley, the Stags Leap AVA soils consist of alluvial and volcanic material.  At first, the location was perceived to be too cool for Cabernet Sauvignon, however, today has become one of the renowned regions for producing some of the best Cabernets with elegant textures.  Add this ‘racy’ wine to your collection, or just enjoy it now!